June 25, 2017

1949. The Berlin Airlift's First Anniversary

"Watching Berlin Airlift flights arrive at a West German airfield for reloading provides local residents with a close-up look at history in the making in June, 1949" (Photo by Gordon Curvan - source)

Bill DownsCBS BerlinJune 25, 1949

Today
ends the first year of the Anglo-American airlift, an event marked by
an almost miraculous escape from death this morning when a four-engine
C-54 airplane stalled and crashed at Tempelhof airdrome just as it was
preparing to land.

The right wing of the aircraft
touched the ground, the plane turned over and caught fire. Rapid action
by German crash crews put out the flame. The three-man crew escaped
without serious injury, and although the aircraft is a complete loss,
the cargo of ten tons of coal was saved.

West Berlin is
celebrating the anniversary by dedicating the square in front of
Tempelhof airdrome to the fifty-one American and British fliers who have
lost their lives in the airlift.

All attempts to get
rail traffic moving into the city have stalled this morning. The
Russian-controlled rail management turned down an American request to
send in a locomotive and crew to take one of our military trains through
the Soviet zone to Hamburg. This request was made last night after the
striking rail workers had put the elevated system in shape to operate an
emergency service for zonal traffic but still keep the strike on the
elevated system operating inside Berlin.

The striking
independent union moved to extend its traffic shutdown to include a
strike blockade of the entire Russian zone. They asked the rail workers'
union in the Western zones not to handle trains into the Soviet zone as
long as the Berlin strike is on. The Western railroad workers' union
said they sympathized with the anti-Communist strikers here and would
make a decision on Monday whether or not to boycott eastbound trains.

The
American, British, and French commandants are meeting at this moment in
another attempt to find a solution to the Little Blockade.

The Communist press is teeing off again on the United States. American
world imperialism and capitalism is now taking its last gasp, according
to the Eastern propaganda. The proof of the end of our decadent culture
is the fact that we are now reverting to boogie-woogie, jitterbugs, bad
literature, and criminal movies.